Syrian ‘Rebels’ Marching for the Caliphate

Logo of Shamikh al Islam, the leading pro-al-Qaeda forum.Shamikh al Islam network is recognised by online al-Qaeda supporters as the authoritative jihadi web site. Most material on the forum is produced by al Qaeda affiliates and bears the label of the al Fajr Media Centre, the online outfit responsible for distributing al Qaeda material.
Al Nusra and other armed groups not integrated within the FSA (such as the Freemen Battalions) portray themselves as the Sunni community’s defender against the “Alawite enemy” and its ‘Shiite agents’. It routinely uses the word “‘Nuṣayrī’ (Arabic: نصيريون‎)” instead of ‘Alawīyyah’ (Arabic: علوية‎) in order to highlight the creed’s divorce from orthodox Islam. ‘Nuṣayrī’ refers to the faith’s founder, a student of the eleventh Shiite Imam, whereas ‘Alawīyyah’ refers to ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib’, considered by Sunnis to be fourth and final of the Rashidun, “rightly-guided” Caliph.
Al-Qaeda recruiting in Syria for al-Nusra. While the Assad regime is watching from a helicopter.